EasyJet pilots ‘overwhelmingly’ to strike

Pilots who work for EasyJet have voted 'overwhelmingly' in favour of a strike, even though the budget airline made a last ditch attempt to try and avoid industrial action.

Pilots union BALPA said that the strike ballot closed with 96% of pilots agreeing to strike, which came about after complaints about EasyJet's shift patterns, which is causing huge levels of fatigue.

"BALPA has now received a last minute offer from easyJet to resolve the dispute and we will consider this carefully in meetings tomorrow before taking any further decisions," a statement from the union said.

These talks have been going on for over a year, but last month, they broke down.

At the time, the pilots union said: "The core issue of the dispute was that fatigue had risen year on year, to levels pilots and Balpa find unacceptable."

EasyJet will be hopeful that this can still be avoided, as the strike could coincide with the October half-term holiday, which is notoriously busy for holiday firms.

EasyJet said: "We hope to reach a mutually agreeable solution. EasyJet can reassure its passengers that no industrial action is currently planned by its UK pilots."